Portland has moved into the yellow (moderate) though the AQI still says that current conditions may be unhealthy for sensitive groups. But air quality has been, and is predicted to, only get better going into the weekend.

We will continue to monitor the air quality index and forecast for any significant changes and do what is best for the safety of our participants. If teams and/or individual participants are concerned about the air quality, we will try to be accommodating as possible vis-à-vis your registrations and rosters. Finally, please be sure to communicate to a Race Official or the First Aid tent if you or anyone on your team is experiencing negative symptoms on race day.

Again, thank you all for your patience as we worked through this environmental concern.

Just another update. I think a lot of people are breathing easier today. The air quality is still “unhealthy,” but it is improving. It is still hard to say how much it will improve before this weekend, but we are optimistic at that it will drop back down to moderate levels tomorrow:

That being said, it has come to our attention that the Marriott hotels have a new 48-hour cancellation policy instead of the 24-hour policy that many of us are used to. We still have no plans cancel the Festival, but we understand that some teams may wish to change their travel plans if we do. We will offer whatever kind of refund that we can, or significant discount on next year’s registration, if teams are concerned about the air quality and want to cancel their registration now. Unfortunately, we cannot tell you what that number will be until after we know what our final expenses are, which will probably not be for a few more weeks.

More tomorrow. There is a chance of rain overnight and we are hoping for the best!

We have received a number of inquiries today about the air quality situation in Portland and the upcoming Portland Dragon Boat Festival. Due to particulate matter from the nearby Eagle Creek fire, the air quality in Portland is currently considered unhealthy.

The forecast for this week looks somewhat promising with shifting winds, cooler temperatures, and a chance of showers Wednesday night through Friday. We know that a number of you are coming from out of town, however, and are looking for guidance before this weekend as to whether the event will be cancelled. We will make that call no later than noonon Thursday.

At this time, we have no plans to cancel the Festival and are moving forward with our preparations as usual. We are keeping a close eye on the air quality index and that, coupled with the weather forecast, will guide our decision. Your health and safety is our number one priority.

In the event that we do need to cancel, we will make sure to compensate all teams as best as we can. Please understand that a number of our expenses have already been incurred and/or are not completely refundable. DragonSports is a nonprofit organization and needs to cover the bulk of its expenses, which for this event are paid for mainly by your registration fees, to be able to offer you races again in the future.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. Please contact us with any further questions or concerns and stay tuned for periodic updates.